Although partymen say that it has got nothing to do with the impending Sunanda case, it is clear that Shashi Tharoor managed to dissatisfy the senior members with the incident. To top it all, the fact that he had been invited by PM Narendra Modi for the 'Swachch Bharat' Campaign and that he had accepted the invite did not go down too well with the party.

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V M Sudheeran said,"praises lavished on Modi repeatedly by Tharoor had hurt Congress and UDF workers who worked sincerely and tirelessly for his victory in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency for a second time."

The matter was weighed by the three-member disciplinary action committee of AICC, comprising leaders Motilal Vora, A K Antony and Sushilkumar Shinde, before Sonia Gandhi decided to remove Tharoor from the post.

Reacting sarcastically, Tharoor said,"this would mean the state leadership would finally read what he actually wrote instead of oral summaries." He had denied all allegations that he was moving closer to BJP by insisting that "he was a proud Congressman and never endorsed the Hindutva agenda of the BJP."

However, he had found support from party general secretary Digvijay Singh, who had said,"I see nothing wrong in Shashi Tharoor accepting to be Brand Ambassador for Swachhta Abhiyan. It is Congress Party programme adopted by Modi."